SAYS PRESIDENT IS APPLYING ETHNIC SENTIMENTS IN THE CASE OF TUNJI OJO
A registered civil society organization, SecureWorld and Liberty Initiative for Peace, SELIP, in collaboration with the Coalition of Anti-Corruption Civil Society Organisations, CACSO, have perfected plans to hit the major streets of Abuja, Lagos, and Ondo States in what the groups term “the father and mother of all protests” in reaction to what the groups refer to as “apparent and deliberate efforts to protect the Minister of Interior on allegations of certificate forgery”.
In a strongly worded Press Release issued on Saturday December 27, and signed by the senior program officer of SELIP, Comrade/Malam Bawa Y. Umar in Abuja, and Comrade Brendan Chijoke for CACSO, the groups insisted that what was good for the goose should be applicable to the gander also.
“All Nigerians could see how promptly the president sacked his erstwhile minister of science and technology, Geoffrey Uche Nnaji, an Igboman from Enugu State, when his certificate forgery allegation went public. Same thing happened to the immediate past Chief Executive of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Farouk Ahmed, a Fulani man from Sokoto State, who had to be forced to resign immediately his integrity was publicly called to question.”
“Before the two mentioned above, Nigerians have not forgotten how the former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu from Cross River state, who was also sacked even while investigation into the allegations against her was still ongoing. Even in that incident, the current Minister of Interior, Mr. Olubunmi Tunji Ojo, prominently featured but was protected by the Presidency from investigation.”
“For the past few months, there have been serious allegations of certificate forgery with regard to his NYSC Certificate, his WAEC result, his first degree, and even his Master’s degree. The totality of his educational status is shrouded in inconsistencies and contradictions. Let’s take the issue of his NYSC certificate that some organizations have petitioned relevant agencies about. In accordance with available records, he was said to be remobilized for national youth service in 2019 at the age of 37 which is against the extant relevant laws that limits the age of service to less than 30 years of age. That is a fraudulent backdoor arrangement between him and some unscrupulous individuals at the NYSC. The clarification issued by the NYSC that the Minister was initially mobilized for service in the year 2006 but “absconded” from service paints a picture of an unscrupulous individual not fitting for a public office of high responsibility such as a Minister. Fundamentally, absconding from assignments damages a person’s individual and professional reputation that also attracts official reprimands and sanctions. In saner climes it makes it harder to secure future employment and could attract legal actions.”
“We wish to further disaggregate the issues involved thus; the NYSC authorities claim that Mr. Tunji Ojo suddenly reappeared in 2019 after absconding national service for 13 years, applied for remobilization at the illegal age of 37 and he was said to have been mobilized to serve at the Federal Capital Development Authority, FCT, Abuja. At the same time he was a full-time serving member of the House of Representatives having been earlier elected in that capacity. It could only imply that Mr. Tunji Ojo, being who he is, was drawing salaries and allowances from two Federal agencies simultaneously. If, as a youth corps member, the law does not allow you to take a full employment at the same period that you’re serving as a youth corps member and the same law limits the age of service to below 30, the intrinsic legal implication of this is that whatever NYSC certificate you’re parading is essentially INVALID which renders you unqualified to occupy any public office. Our position is that, even if the NYSC issued Mr Tunji Ojo a certificate in the circumstances shown above, that certificate at best is a fraudulent paperwork that has no legal validity.”
“Why Mr. Tunji Ojo has survived till date as Interior Minister is only due to his Yoruba ethnicity. If he were to be from another ethnic nationality other than being a Yorubaman same as President Bola Tinubu, he would have been fired long ago by the president. Due to the foregoing, our both organizations will embark on father and mother of all protests in the Federal Capital Territory, Lagos state, and Ondo State by January 2026 should the Minister still retain his office as Interior Minister. We call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to immediately sack this Minister and not allow him further tarnish his administration. We call on President Bola Tinubu to immediately relieve this Minister of his appointment and institute an impartial panel to investigate the allegations. We are taking this route because we have noticed that all petitions already submitted against the Minister are being swept under the carpet without any investigatory actions taken nor satisfactory clarifications issued till date. Our strong belief that it is only people of integrity who should occupy high public offices and our patriotism to our dear country are the critical factors that inform this and the next series of actions that we have mapped out. President Bola Tinubu should stop basing his actions on the basis of ethnic sentiments because we can see apparent and deliberate efforts to protect the Minister on these allegations of certificate forgery”.
“President Bola Tinubu should douse the burning fire of ethnic sympathy on Tunji Ojo’s matter going by the way he has been shielded by the Presidency as the Nigerian public is not oblivious of his personal relationship and closeness with the Chief of Staff and others in the office of Mr President.”
